Tiling of a 17m balcony, advice needed!

[surflaur]

I went round to do an estimate on a 17m squared balcony and came out scratching my head, the details are as follows.

The subfloor is concrete which at the moment has puddles gathering in it when it rains. It also has supports around the outside which come through the concrete at about 20mm high and the customer wants these hidden by tiles also.

So i will need to level the whole lot and incorporate a slight drop so the rain goes into the gutter rather than puddles. I've been told 3mm per 3m?

The customer also wants a terracota tile, are these good for the british weather? and do you have to treat them?

I would really like to get this job for the experience but i won't touch it if i'm not going to do a good job

Any advice on levelling with an incline and the rest of the above and pricing?

Also what would i do with the edges? Batten them off and get an edging tile around the outside?

Cheers Laur

 

[Dan]

I'd want to add a little to that drop I think, I'm almost sure that british standards say that over a 2 meter length a floor can still be classed as a first and flat even if it dips or raises 3mm.

So over a 3 meter length trying to get a fall of 3mm will be hard to guarantee. I'd say 3mm per meter myself, after all it is tiles you're using as the floor finish and those can have flaws in them too.

Another thing to consider is your level accuracy. If you test it on a wall by drawing a level line, then spin your level around and line it up with what's on the wall your bubble will probably not be bang on. So aiming for a 3mm fall over 3 meters with a level that has an accuracy with a 3mm (or whatever it's out) margin per level length is near on impossible after putting your level down a couple of times and mixing the direction you were originally using it in, if that makes any sense.

As far as tiles go, tell the customer to nip into the shop and get a few samples of exterior grade, topps mark these up by a 5 star rating but other stores may vary. You should be able to get a terracotta tile suitable for exterior use easily but I wouldn't always just assume they're all fine for it.

I imagine sealing would be a preference as it usually is but you wouldn't seal it just due to you fixing them outside. Generally a high density tile is used externally as it will limit the amount of water that soaks in the tile so when the weather is cold the water doesn't freeze in the tile and blow it, like brickwork can in some cases.

Most cement based products will be fine outside too, and you're not trying to make the whole floor waterproof here. You're just using products that don't get effected when they're wet once they've cured. So water will always pass through the grout, then adhesive, then your levelling compound (or whatever you use) then the concrete base.

You can increase the height of the floor by using an exterior grade self-levelling compound that can go to 20mm. Some makes can go that thick, others need chippings in it to bulk it out and give it strength and to stop shrinkage when it's setting. You could use some of that quick-drying cement though maybe that you can get from wicks or wherever, you just mix it with sand and water and pour it in your battened area then tamp it down to get the air out. Then tile that and like you say, perhaps finish it off with some type of edging tile or use a flat metal tile trim like this TileRite: Tiling Made Simple - Tile Trims - Anodised Aluminium Edge

Pricing isn't my say-so. But this isn't a quick job so price3 it well

 

[surflaur]

Thanks Dan thats great advice. I still think it is a bit adventurous for me though. I am going to advise he gets someone to level the balcony with the 3mm drop every metre and i will tile it afterwards. I just wouldn't know how to get the incline.

I never knew that about a level i will try it Tomorrow! You know what they say 'everydays a school day'.

Thanks again Dan

 

[McP77]

Water needs a gradient of 1:600 to flow. So it's 1mm per 60 cms, making 5mm over 300cms/3metres.